Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with five films I think are pretty cool. Welcome to SATURDAY SHORTS, your weekly film fest here in the heart of AICN, featuring short films from across the globe. With Comic Con in full swing, it seems like Christmas morning with movie news here and other sites pumping out all the fun tidbits from this year's extraveganza of pop culture. It's a tad overwhelming to see the new trailers for various mega budget blockbusters popping up, along with finding out about the BLAIR WITCH remake. While the convention has an enormous amount of cool things going on and those brave enough to face its crowds are most certainly having a ball, here we are with the ability to (visually) experience a handful of wild stories in the comfort of our homes all within the span of an hour. Below you will find demons, bizarre animations, reminders of VHS days, and more. Be it comedy, horror, drama, or action - this week covers it all! So let's jump right on in, eh?
Go grab yourself some popcorn, lock your kids in a closet, kill the lights, relax and check out this little weekly film fest we've got ourselves here!
THE CHAPLAIN
TRT: 9:16
First up is a film from Writer/Director Jeremy Breslau that features great performances from Bailey Chase, Hayley McFarland, and Trevor Morgan. Other than straight up kicking ass, this film serves as a proof of concept for a feature Breslau expects to bring to life. The film dips into some dark territory with "a former chaplain trying to free his daughter from her occultist boyfriend." Great sound design. Great performances. Great nine minutes of cinema. If you're curious to see more, then be sure to check out the film's website and Facebook Page!
The Chaplain from Gina Breslau on Vimeo.
BUMP CLASSIQUE
TRT: 3:39
Who says you need to do drugs in order to trip balls? Ben Wheele has a bizarre film for us all, a difficult to describe piece of awesomeness... It's dark. It's classy. It's nightmare inducing. It's "a short film about bursting..." Wheele is an envelope pusher, so do yourself the solid of seeing more of his work over on his Youtube Page!
THE LISTENER
TRT: 22:37
Next up is a film I caught over on theplaylist.net, and ultimately think deserves to be spread as much as possible. THE LISTENER is set in a dystopian future wherein a man is tasked with listening in on the lives of folks, stealing secrets at the behest of his government (wait a second... sounds familiar). All is peachy until he meets a new friend. The movie was written by Oliver Lyttelton and Directed/Edited by Michael Gilhooly. Head over to the film's website and Facebook Page if you want more info on how they pulled the film off and to see what's next for its creators!
The Listener (BAFTA long-listed, 2016) from Good Shout on Vimeo.
TIMELIKE
TRT: 8:20
Our next short might not be for everyone, but it certainly was for me. Director Richard Boylan has created a tense short that will leave you pulling your hair out. "Madeline and her boyfriend are enjoying a quiet evening at home when they are interrupted by a visit from a stranger bearing a message from Madeline’s future self." Time travel is a delicate flower of a genre, one which is almost certainly scrutinized in more detail than others. I like Boylan's take with the home video vibe and am curious to see more of his work.
FANTASY HOSPITAL Episode 4 - Family Triage
TRT: 5:00
To wrap us out for this week's lineup we have an episode from a rather funny web series from Justin Marchert. "The dwarves, giants, fairies and other wizarding doctors of "Fantasy Hospital" can cure any magical malady from Arachpneumonia to Zombie Decay. Dwarf Chief of Staff Kuckles leads the medical mages: Dr. Drexel Bonaventure, the reformed evil wizard; Nurse Misty Windham, the enigmatic elf; giant Dr. Pakij, the Ogre G.Y.N., centaur Hunter, the quadramedic and Nickleby the secre-fairy. But when the High Wizard declares that even the lowly humans must be saved, they’ll seek help from the unlikeliest of worlds -- ours. Through a magical mix-up, they receive med. school dropout Max Tuduski. Max will teach them human medicine. In return, they’ll teach Max to be a little more human." Check out the Fantasy Hospital website for more episodes!
BAM! That's it for this week, ladies and gents! I'll catch you all here a week from now with another lineup of fun films I think you might like. Have a good one and if you've got a short of your own - be sure to send it my way!
SATURDAY SHORTS 2012
SATURDAY SHORTS 2013
SATURDAY SHORTS 2014
SATURDAY SHORTS 2015
Hank & Honey: A Holiday Horror; Black Christmas; Grammy; Pick Ups (1/2/16)
Lilitu; Auld Lang Syne; Chronoshred; Ash Vs. Lobo Vs. The DC Undead (1/9/16)
Believe; The Dragon's Blade; Native Immigration; The Problem With Friends (1/23/16)
Harbinger; Hyperthermia; The Chickening; Head (1/30/16)
Erebus; Boldly Gone; Cupcakes; City In Crisis; Vandalaze "Great Big Things" (2/6/16)
Blurry; American Virgin; Azarkant; The Homing Bird; Sex, Lies, And Terminators (2/13/16)
Connected; Terry And Brenda; Fuck Buddies; Audrey; BigHead Walking Dead Parody (2/20/16)
Absence; The Adept; MAT ZO - "Sinful;" Dreamco; Hoot (3/12/16)
Pop Music; Tumble Dry Low; Rooms; Promise; Darth Maul: Apprentice (3/19/16)
Status Update; Kafka's Little Fable; Ghoster; I Got Your Nose; Creature Feature (4/2/16)
Steve; The Good Survivor; Field of Screams; Mirrored; Jack Edwards - "Falling In Love" (4/16/16)
Rest Stop; The Technician; Romp; Who's There?; If Joke & Harley Quinn Were A Normal Couple (4/23/16)
Trial; Star Struck; Color TV, No Vacancy; Notifications On; One Sunny Day (5/14/16)
You Are Not Alone; Giraffe Soup; Brother; Bury Tomorrow - "Last Light"; Rain (5/21/16)
The Group; The Trap; The Echo of Small Things; Alison Blaire - "The Sight of Sound"; James (5/28/16)
Blinking Lights; Dédalo; Invisible; Identity Crisis (6/25/16)
Schackled; Miss Nobody; I Hate Mondays; Jefferson; Mary's Passion (7/2/16)
Swap; Ghostbusters: All Manned Up Edition; The Invisible Man; Sleep Tight; Defining Fay (7/10/16)
Carl; Flat Tire; Loree's Crazy 'Bout Kittens; Chum Zone II: Shark Fin Soup; Archetype (7/16/16)
If you have a short and think it belongs here or are on the fence about whether to send it in, please do send it in - I'd love to see what you've put together. I've already seen hundreds of fresh new filmmakers' shorts and like any good addict, I need more!
Shoot me an email at "Mike@aintitcool.com"
In the subject line include:
“SHORTS” + “Your film’s name” + “The film’s genre”
Then, in the body of the email, please include a synopsis of the film and any contact information you might think I need or would want published. The more info you send my way, the more info there is to put with your short.
Please don’t feel the need to submit multiple times.
Remember, the filmmakers might still be in the audience, so feel free to share your thoughts in Talkbacks below. (JUST DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE). I picked them, so you know I think highly of all of these, but how about you fine folks? How'd you like 'em?
BY THE WAY: If you've had a short featured here, that means that I personally am a fan of your work, so feel free to shoot me any kind of news on new projects/films/whatever. I can't say I'll be able to help or in what capacity, but I'm interested in your work and am always down to see more! (Keep making cool stuff, everyone!)
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
